Garage door operating mechanism



Nov. 7, 1933. M. w. HAWKS GARAGE DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed May 16, 1931 6 o o m E O o a 030 4 4 I o Q 0 6 E O\. O F 0 Bi V Patented Nov. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 5 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in garage doors, and the like, and particularly to improved means for opening and closing such doors from a position outside of the building in front thereof.

In Patent No. 1,599,328, issued to me September '7, 1926, I disclosed a type of door operating on inclined tracks under gravity action for the opening and closing thereof. Such doors were located outside the building, and were operable parallel with and along the front surface thereof in both lateral directions, and accordingly were unsuitable in buildings and especially in garages where only a limited amount of space was afforded for opening the doors thereof.

The primary object of my present invention is to provide a door or pair of doors mounted on a curved track within the building, and so arranged as to open inwardly without swinging on hinges; as in narrow buildings of this character the doors thereof extend almost entirely across the front end thereof. It is therefore essential that the doors should open inwardly and be placed along the adjacent inner sides of the garage so as to be entirely out of the way when in open position. To accomplish this object it is essential that the track on which the doors operate should be curved quite sharply at a right angle so as to extend along the sides as well as along the front of the building, whereby the doors are moved within a narrow compass from a closed position along the end of the building to open position along the sides thereof, said doors being suspended from said track on pulleys, and constructed and operable as hereafter stated.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for simultaneously opening and closing a pair of doors operable on said curved rail in opposite directions, by means of certainpulley and lever arrangements operable from a point in front and outside of the building, causing said doors to travel along said track and around the curve therein on hangers adapted thereto.

For such purpose swivel joints are provided insaid hangers and each door is made up of three longitudinal sections hinged together, the middle section of each door being free to travel without hangers and shift radially, so as to span the curvature of the track without friction all as hereinafterfully described and stated in the appended claims. 7 r a My invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawing in which similar letters and figures of reference indicate like parts.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1 is a vertical section thru a garage building looking from the rear, showing the pair of doors in closed position and means for suspending them by hangers from the curved rail.

Fig. 2 is a plan view from the top of the garage, the roof thereof being removed, showing the door operating mechanism in full and shaded or dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is a sectional perspective view of one corner of a garagashowing one of the pair of doors mounted on the curved track, and means outside the building for actuating the door opening and closing mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the terminal portion of one of the operating levers, enlarged. Fig. 5 is a detailed view of one of the swivel hangers for suspending the doors on the curved rail, enlarged.

In the drawing, A indicates the outer enclosure of the garage B, the frame work on which the door opening and closing mechanism is operable, C, the opening for doorway, and D, the curved rail on which the doors travel. E, indicates an extended bracket from the front of the garage above the'doorway C, and F, indicates a member of the upper framework at the rear.

The bracket E carries at its outer end two pulleys over which run the operating lines 15 and 16. These lines pass freely thru an opening in the garage wall, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and around a pulley 1'7 in the frame member F, and are attached to the terminus of a lever 13, which is pivoted upon the frame member B and is operable therefrom as shown by the arrow and the dotted line 13' inboth directions. The lever 13 is pivotally connected to a bar 12, which pivotally engages the angular'arm 6. The latter is perforated at its outer terminus by an opening '7 which is enlarged as at 8, (Fig. 4), to. provide a catch adapted to engage the upper end of the arm 9 to actuate and lock the door member, as hereafter more fully explained. i

A bar 11 is pivotally connected near the outer end oflsaid angular arm 6, to the inner end of a corresponding bar 6, which is pivotally operable under the frame member B in such manner that movement of the bar 6, causes a like movement of the bar 6'.

It will be apparent that when there is a pull on the knob terminus of one of the lines-say 15-the lever arm 13 is swung in one direction, and when the pull is on the other line 16, said arm is swung in the opposite direction, and that by such movements the door operating arms 6 and 6' are simultaneously moved in circular directions to the dotted line position 6.

The entire open door space C is covered by the pair of doors which meet at the center of said space. Said doors are each made up of three sections or panels 1, 2 and 3, and the sec ions of each door are hinged together, as at 4, so as to be flexible sufficient for running around the corner curve of the rail D. To accomplish this movement, the outer section of each of said pair of doors, is suspended on hangers 5, 5, respectively, having pulleys which travel on said track, in the usual well known way.

To accommodate travel on said curve, a swivel is interposed in each hanger, as shown in Fig. 5. Moreover, to accomplish the turn of said door on said curve, it is essential that the intermediate section 2 thereof should be entirely free from travel thereon, and be capable of being spaced apart radially a limited distance from said rail in passing around the curve therein, and also be guided and limited at its longitudinal edges, and thereby also aid in guiding the adjacent sections 1 and 3 in said passage around said curve.

For this purpose, said intermediate section 2 is provided with vertical strips 10, 10, projecting upwardly from the inner side of its longitudinal edges, adapted to slide along the inner side of said rail, and thereby, in connection with the connecting hinges of the sections, keep all of them in proper alignment. To accommodate the inward radial movement or" said intermediate section 2, a projection 9 extends upwardly from its longitudinal center of its inner surface, adapted to reach and engage the outer'terminus of the door operating arm 6, as shown in Fig. 3; and to accommodate the inward radial movement of said projection 9, the opening therefor in the terminus of said operating arm 5 is slotted inwardly sufficient for the purpose, as best shown at '7, in Fig. 4.

By the means aforesaid the door winds freely around the corner curve in said rail D, at the sharp angle required. As the operation of both doors is in all respects alike, descriptionof the mechanism applicable to the one is sufficient for both.

A further provision for locking the doors auto matically shut is made by cutting a notch 8 at the end of the slot 7, adapted to be engaged by the said intermediate projection 9, as shown in Fig. 4, when the door reaches the central point in the-opening C.

It may be released from said notch only by the return movement of the said operating arm. I am aware it is not new to suspend a plurality of doors on a curved track on roller hangers, the doors made up of sections hinged together, and such I do not broadly claim.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is- 1 1. In a building,-door operating mechanism, comprising in combination, a track located within the building and curved inwardly at right angles with the front thereof, and a pair of doors mounted to reciprocate. thereon in oppositedirections, each door made up of three longitudinal sections hinged together lengthwise, themiddle section of each door carried by said hinges independently of said track, and adapted to oscillate a limited distance therefrom, a pair of upstanding strips adapted to slidingly engage said track and in cooperation with said hinges keep the several sections in proper alignment, a bar upstanding centrally from said middle section, and mechanism in operative engagement therewith adapted to reciprocate said doors simultaneously, substantially as set forth.

2. In a building of the class described, door operating mechanism comprising in combination, a track mounted within the building, said track curved inwardly at right angles with the front thereof, a pair of doors adapted to reciprocate on said track in opposite directions, said doors made up of three longitudinal sections, hinged together, the middle section of each door, hinged to and carried by the door sections adjacent thereto, and means including a pair of strips upstanding from said middle section slidingly engaging said track, and a bar upstanding from said middle section in loose engagement with a cooperating lever, for reciprocating said doors simultaneously, substan tially as set forth.

3. In a garage, door operating mechanism comprising in combination, a track Within the building curving inwardly, a door mounted to reciprocate on said track, said door made up of three sections hinged together, the outer sections of said door carried on pulley hangers on said track, the middle section supported and carried by the sections adjacent thereto, independently of said track; and means, including a bar upstanding from said middle section, and an arm in operative engagement with said bar, for reciprocating said door on said track, substantially as set forth.

4. In a building of the class described, door opening and closing mechanism, comprising in combination, a track curving inwardly Within the building, a pair of doors reciprocally operable on said track, a frame within the building, said doors comprising three sections hinged together, the outer sections thereof suspended by pulley hangers on said track, and an intermediate section hinged to and carried thereby on the adjacent sections, a pair of guide-strips projecting from the upper end of said intermediate section, and an upstanding bar between said guide-strips,

, a pair of arms radially operable on said frame, each arm in operative engagement with the upstanding bar of its related section, a bar pivotally connecting said arms so as to actuate them simultaneously in opposite directions, and means, including a cable extending outside the building, to actuate said arms.

5. In a building, door operating mechanism, comprising in combination, a framework, a track curved inwardly thereon, a pair of doors reciprocable thereon, each door comprising a pair of outer longitudinal sections mounted to ride on said track, and an intermediate section hinged to said outer sections, respectively, and carried thereby apart from said track, a pair of upstanding guide-strips from each middle section adapted to slidingly engage said track, an upstanding bar between said guide-strips, respectively, a pair of lever-bars pivotally operable on said framework, each lever-bar in operative engagement with its corresponding upstanding bar, a cross-bar pivotally connecting said pair of lever-bars, and means, including a cable, for actuating said leverbars and for reciprocating said intermediate sections and thereby said doors, simultaneously, substantially as set forth.

MILES W. HAWKS. 

